Microsoft, the world's largest software maker, predicted that consumers would move to Vista faster than they did to past Windows upgrades. The Windows franchise is the centerpiece of Microsoft's business because the company makes more than 75 cents in operating profit for every dollar of sales. Microsoft founder Bill Gates was asked to clarify last week's comments by Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer that analysts' forecasts for fiscal 2008 revenue for the Windows Vista operating system were "overly aggressive". The response was: "People who sell PCs have seen a very nice lift in their sales. People have come in and wanted to buy Vista," Gates told reporters at an Ottawa news conference. Asked by Reuters if there was anything that would make Microsoft cautious about the outlook for Vista, Gates replied: "I don't know what you mean. Vista's had an incredible reception. The reviews have been fantastic. This is a big, big advance in the Windows platform. It's the world's most used piece of software... Overall, the reliability feedback has been, well, better than we expected."

To be honest, I think Bill is a little overly optimistic. Vista will do well, no doubt about that, but to say "incredible reception" and "fantastic reviews" is a little short of exaggeration. On the other hand, Microsoft haters tend to get more attention than anyone else. It makes me wonder, if the feedback they are receiving is better than what they expected, what exactly did Microsoft expect as a response to Vista?